Lovely Graves
by linzhatterxx
Summary: An old "acquaintance" of Graverobber's bursts into his life again, and has an intense interest in Shilo. Rated "T" for now.
1. Lovely Graves

"Here comes Lovely," he muttered. Shi looked curiously over at him, then out into the distance of the graveyard. That was one thing that continued to amaze her - how acute his senses were.

"Lovely?" She asked after a moment, turning her gaze towards Graverobber once more. He moved down off the tomb he'd been lounging on.

"Another graverobber," he began, "she used to be a RepoWoman, but after they assigned her a kid, she left."

"GeneCo would do that to a child?" The question was out of her mouth before she thought it through; of course they would. These were, after all, the same people who more or less destroyed her life before she was born. Graves merely sniggered at her and reached to muss her wig.

"You'll learn one day."

A twig snapped a few feet ahead of them, and then a petite woman appeared. She was even smaller than Shilo, but the way she carried herself made her seem ten feet tall. The two pony tails on top of her head reminded Shi vaguely of some movie she'd seen years and years ago, one nearly as dark and bloody as her new life was, and her eyes shone brightly in the darkness.

"Fancy meeting you here, Robby," she purred, leaping deftly onto the slab he'd so recently vacated. Her voice was silky, almost musical. Shilo wondered if her mother had spoken like that when she was alive.

"Its a graveyard, I'm just doing my job." His signature smirk rested on his lips, and Lovely chuckled.

"I cleaned this one out months ago. Unless GeneCo decided to expand it, you're outta luck."

Her gaze suddenly turned to Shilo. "Ho ho, what have we here?" She slid off the tomb and circled Shi like a vulture, "Unless I'm mistaken, you're Shilo Wallace." The way this woman said her name made her uneasy; she seemed even more like a predator.

"I am. What's it to you?" She asked, sounding much braver than she felt. She noticed Graverobber raise an eyebrow at her tone.

"Play nicely, now. I was just curious, is all. How'd you end up with Robby here?"

"I..." Shilo glanced over at him, "He's training me. I'm, uhh, his apprentice I guess..." Color crept into her cheeks, and she tried to make herself as small as possible, suddenly regretting trying to intimidate this woman - all Lovely had to do was put her hands on her hips and she was terrified. She understood why GeneCo would've wanted her as Repo.

"Is he now? And why the act of charity, Robby?" Lovely turned to him and cocked her head slightly. Shilo turned to look at him as well. She'd often wondered the same thing.

Graves was now leaning on a tall tombstone, resting his elbow against a higher point of it. He gave a small shrug, and pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Guess you could say I have a soft spot for orphans in need." Barely a second had passed before he turned his Zydrate eyes on Lovely specifically. "What're you doing here if you already cleared it?"

"I got a nice little spot for myself set up in here now. Saw you coming, thought there couldn't be much harm in saying hi to an old friend."

He was off the stone now, his hand at Shilo's elbow, "We were a lot of things, Lovely, but friends was never one of them." They began to edge towards the door of the graveyard, much less cautious than when they'd entered now they knew just how lax the security was (which Shilo was thankful for; she'd likely be washing dirt out of her wig for the next couple weeks).

"I'll be seeing you again soon," Lovely called to them. Shilo heard Graves mutter something, but she couldn't make it out. The door slammed shut behind them, and she once again found herself crawling close to the ground.

...

"Told you so." Graves was smirking at her again, leaning against the door of the shower. Shilo tried to glare at him, but couldn't help but grin. Though the withdrawls had been hell, she now had all of her father's medicine out of her system, and her once bald head was covered in about an inch of soft, slightly curly auburn hair. She couldn't stop running her hand over it.

"Keep rubbing it and it might all fall out again."

"No it won't," Shilo tried to sound confident, but she pulled her wig back on, just to keep from proving him right again.

"Are you ready, now? Its almost dusk, and the alley's gonna be swarming by the time we get there."

He was gone out of the doorway before she could say anything, so she settled for sticking her tongue out at his back. She turned and finished dressing herself; no longer in the short, frilly things her father had given her, but a more practical set of tight pants, flat-footed boots, and a thick hooded shirt. What she really wanted was a coat, like Graverobber's, but according to him, she had to earn that.

The alley was crawling when they arrived; the support group must've let out early tonight. Shilo took her place behind Graves, careful to keep her hood up. She was still wanted for questioning, and neither were too keen on the idea of any GeneCo employees getting ahold of her. As soon as the first Scalple Slut noticed them, they were swarmed.

"What does Zydrate come in, everyone?" He asked in his classic, overdramatic manner. As one, they all replied, "A little glass vial!" One particularly ballsy one, a regular by the name of Star, started pawing Graverobber's leg and purring (though to Shilo she just sounded like a drunk dummy).

"Come on, Daddy, gimme a glowy kiss..." Graves tossed a look over his shoulder, and Shilo handed him the gun and vial. With a swiftness that she doubted she'd ever master, he'd loaded and shot Star up, moving past her and onto the next girl in a matter of seconds.

"Incredible, isn't he?"

Shilo jumped a mile and looked next to her, only to find Lovely standing there. "The way he controls them, I swear he turns them into Lemmings just looking at them."

"Yeah..." Shi looked in his direction, hoping to catch his eye. She had no idea what to do, and wasn't all that fond of this woman.

"Bet that's why you're so crazy about him, isn't it?"

She jerked her head around and stared at Lovely, "What do you mean?"

The shorter woman draped her arm around Shilo's waist, "Come on, Doll, its so obvious. You're head over heels in lo-"

"He's more like a father to me than anything. I do not have feelings for him."

A chuckle, and Lovely removed her arm, touching Shi the whole time, "That's why they call them 'Daddy Issues,' sweetheart." She slinked into the shadows of the alley just as Graverobber finished the last Slut and came back to her.

**A/N: Alrighty loves! Here's a new one for you, my first foray into the world of RTGO! We'll see how this goes. I have a few ideas.**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it and wish I would die for typing such an abomination? Let me know! Review! :D Anyone who does gets a Glowy Kiss from Graves. ;)**


	2. A Nighttime Visitor

Graverobber turned over in his sleep, groaning a bit as his bones creaked; its not that he was terribly old, but the life he lived took a toll on his body. The sound woke him up ever so slightly, which infuriated him ever so much, and he sat up. May as well take a piss while he was awake.

He shuffled towards the shoddy bathroom, stifling a yawn as he did so, and paused when he got close to the Kid's room. He could hear her whimpering behind the door, no doubt having another nightmare. He shook his head and continued down the hall, deciding whether or not it was worth it to wake her; the last time he did, she clocked him in the jaw out of surprise.

Once he'd relieved himself, the more awake Graverobber nudged Shilo's door open and stepped in. In the six months she'd been living there, the six months since the Opera, she had somehow made this her home. Not that it wasn't, really, but she had found small ways to make it hers in a way that, he sensed, her father's house never was. Nothing covered the walls, no posters of Mag or enormous portraits of her mother, but they had found some old lace to use as a curtain for her window. Her wig sat on a makeshift perch, an upside down bowl on top of an old candle holder, and around it sat her few pots of make up. Her giant book of bugs, as well as a few stolen classics, were stacked next to her bed, and one lay open next to her. He leaned down to pick it up, careful to mark her place, and sat it with the rest of them.

"No..." She mumbled, her face morphing into a grimace in her sleep. Graves looked at her, his own brow drawing together. "Stop... please don't..."

"Kid," he sighed and decided she needed to wake up. He placed his hand on her arm to shake her, "Come on now, wak-"

"Don't touch me!" Her voice got louder and she moved away from him. She seemed to wake herself by doing this, and looked around for a moment, seemingly puzzled by where she was. Then she sighed, and looked over, surprised to see him sitting there. She stared for a moment, opened her mouth, and closed it again.

"Bad dream again?" He said flatly, making sure to not let her know how her nightmares, and their increasing frequency, were worrying him. He tried to tell himself that it was because he didn't want her noise in the night to give away their hiding place, but that was nothing more than bullshit on a stick. She eventually nodded, folding her hands in her lap. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No." Her voice wavered a little bit, but she said nothing else. Just slid back down the mattress and pulled the blanket under her chin. Graverobber stood at this and stepped back into the doorway, looking over his shoulder at her again before closing the door.

Making his way back to the living room, he yawned again and rubbed the back of his neck. It bothered him that he worried so much about her. In all of his life, he only ever concerned himself with just that, himself. Where he was going, what he was doing, where his next meal was coming from. What was it about Shilo Wallace that made her so special?

"That's what I've been wondering, myself. What's so special about her?"

Graverobber spun around, grabbing the nearest available weapon (in this case, a fireplace poker (which, given that this place didn't have one, he had to wonder where it came from)), and was about to lay into the intruder when he realized who it was.

"Lovely. To what do I owe the pleasure of you being in my house, uninvited, at four in the morning, acting like a little ray of sun-fucking-shine?"

She laughed, and reached around behind her, cracking her shoulders, "Always so pleased to see me. Gosh, makes me wonder how we're friends."

"We're not friends, and we never were. How'd you find me?"

"Oh, Robby." She grinned and reached up to pat his cheek. "You seem to forget, I was Repo. And we always have a way of finding you."

He stepped back away from her, gripping his poker tighter, "What do you want?"

"Would you believe me if I said a hug?"

"Never."

"Fine," Lovely's lips arranged themselves into a pout, and she crossed her arms. "I was in the neighborhood, and thought you might like to know that they're looking for you. And the kid. So you may wanna relocate. Unless you wanna start sucking Z outta Shi's skull, that is." She turned on her heel and hopped onto the window sill. "See ya, Robby." Blowing a kiss at him, she slid off and out of his sight. For a while he just stood there, almost wondering if she was going to come back. After a half hour had passed, it seemed safe enough to him to go back to his couch.

"Graverobber?"

Her quiet, still child-like voice cut through his delusions (he refused to call them dreams) like a scalpel, and he raised himself off the couch to look at her. "Yeah, Kid? You're up early."

She didn't have her wig on, which was odd (even with her hair growing back, it seemed to be her security blanket), and she half ran half jumped to the couch next to him. "Were you in my room last night?"

He nodded, "You seemed to be having a bad dream, so I woke you up." He didn't see why she was asking, it wasn't as if that wasn't an almost nightly occurrence anymore.

"No," she shook her head, "After that? Did you come back in?"

Graverobber blinked. He never blinked, which made Shilo feel like ice replaced all of her blood. "No. I didn't. Was someone else in your room?" She nodded.

"Fuck me."

**A/N;; Here be it! Second chapter. Hope you all are still diggin' it. I'm sorta iffy on this chapter, so it may stay under construction for a while. But I wanted to get it out there before you all forgot me. :)**

**To those who have already reviewed, Graves is on his way to deliver your glowy kiss. My new reviewers for this chapter (or returning reviewers) get to take him up on his offer. ;D**

**REVIEWS ARE LIKE ZYDRATE, AND I'M ADDICTED TO THE KNIFE. **

** linzhatterxx**


	3. What's in a Name?

"How the fuck are we gonna keep this outta' the papers?" Luigi slammed his fist, and consequently his knife, onto the surface of his father's desk. Pavi lounged on the couch in front of it, admiring his latest face - Amber's was one he only wore on special occasions.

"I don't-a know, Brother. The same-a way we always do?" He took a moment to look away from his mirror to wiggle his eyebrows suggestively. "Any-a reporter who would-a even think about printing this-a story... well, let the Pavi handle them."

The older Largo brother rolled his eyes and feigned gagging. "This is serious, you sick fuck. If anyone finds out Amber-"

"Mister Largo, you have a visitor," the intercom buzzed. Luigi pressed a button and sneered into the mic.

"Well who is it? They better have a damn good reason for bugging me."

"They politely request to be kept anonymous, but we've thoroughly searched them. They're perfectly safe."

"Whatever, no one comes up here without me knowing who the fuck they are."

There was no response on the intercom, and Luigi sat with a grunt. His back was all fucked up again, he needed to get a new one. This was getting ridiculous. He was just about to start throwing his knife at an old picture of his father, when the door to the office burst open. He and Pavi both jumped up, and he reached for the larger knife he'd stabbed into the desk.

"Oh, calm your shit. I'm not gonna hurt you," the intruder scoffed. Whoever it was, it was hard to tell; the voice was being run through a disguising mechanism, and their face was covered.

"What-a do you-a want?" Pavi asked, setting his mirror aside, which Luigi knew was a bad sign; the only time Pavi put his mirror down was when he was about to rip a face off.

"I have information as to the whereabouts of Shilo Wallace. If you don't wanna know where the little brat is, by all means, kill me. I'm just trying to help you out."

"Why won't you tell us who you are, then, huh?" Luigi growled, "One too many botched surgeries under there? I bet you're nothing but a delusional Scalpel Slut who got one too many hits."

"She's at 836 Bloodwood Road, the old abandoned mental hospital. Send your guys there, see if I'm wrong." Before either of them blinked, their visitor was gone. The brothers exchanged a look, and neither spoke for a long while. Finally, Pavi's voice broke the silence.

"Should we-a send someone to see?"

Luigi fiddled with his knife for a moment, then sent it flying at the picture on the wall, "We're gonna find that bitch. Send 'em all."

...

Shilo nervously paced the length of her room, wringing her hands. She was tired, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't sleep. Three hours had passed since she told Graverobber that she was "gonna go pass the hell out," and she didn't know if he was still awake or not. _Why would it matter if he was? What would he do, fix me a glass of warm milk, read me a bedtime story? Get real Shilo._ A small smirk flashed on her lips, _I don't even like warm milk._

Dejectedly, she plopped down on the edge of her bed and held her head in her hands. Running her thin fingers through her hair (_her _hair, her own real hair), she tried to figure out what was wrong. Before the Opera, whenever she couldn't sleep there was always a concrete reason; she'd slept in too much that day, sneaked one too many cups of coffee past her dad, or there was some big cliffhanger on her favorite shows. But now... it was an anxiety she couldn't place. She laid down on her side and stared at the window, watching the lights of cars and the floating monitors go by. Music was coming from one of them, GeneCo was looking for a new spokesperson, and were advertising the auditions using old clips of Mag, and Shilo couldn't help but cringe.

_"These eyes can do more than see."_

_"I know, I mean, I've seen you sing..._"

She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, folding her hands on her tummy. Her eyes finally began to close, when the door to her room creaked open. She sat up and caught Graves' eyes; he looked... she wasn't sure. "Graverobber?"

"I... uhh, well shit. I guess you can't sleep either?" He seemed to have expected her to be asleep, which made her wonder what he had been planning on doing. She merely shook her head and started chewing on the inside of her cheek.

"Is something wrong...?" She looked up at him, still at a loss for why he was trying to sneak into her room. Something flashed in her mind, something she couldn't put her finger on, but that made her uncomfortable, and she looked away.

"I thought something might be wrong with you. You, uhh... you were quiet." He shoved his hands, white as snow, into the pockets of his pants, and added, "Your nightmares..." when she looked even more confused.

"Oh... yeah, kinda hard to have those when you can't fall asleep." She watched him for a few moments, then chuckled lightly. "You can come in here if you want...? You don't have to hover in the doorway just cause I'm awake and you feel awkward."

Though her face didn't reflect it, she was shocked she'd said that. Sure, it was plainly obvious that that was how he felt, since he only ever showed some form of affection to her when she was asleep (or in some cases, only half asleep, but he didn't know that), but it was never something she thought she'd call him out on. He shrugged, and stepped inside, opting to lean against her desk rather than sit with her on the bed. They stared at each other, with one occasionally looking at the window when a set of lights passed too close for comfort.

"I meant what I said, you know." He said after a long time. Shilo blinked.

"Huh?"

"At the Opera, when you helped me down. You're beautiful." It wasn't hard to see the blush settle on her cheeks when he said that, and even as she looked down she caught him smirking. "Has no one ever told you that?"

"No... well, I mean, my dad... but he was my dad, so he kind of _had _to say it," she shrugged, still not looking at him. She didn't know if she liked him calling her beautiful. Not because she didn't think she was, but because she saw him as a father... not a potential boyfriend. Or lover. Or whatever. Or did she? Maybe Lovely was ri-

_No. He's not like that to me._

"Well, now someone has. You, Shilo Wallace, are truly stunning. Even when you're tired and cranky." He reached over and playfully poked her arm, and she giggled a little bit.

"What made you say that?"

He stopped, and his face turned thoughtful again, before he shrugged. "It needed to be said, I guess? I don't know."

...

Graverobber watched her watch him, her face leaned against her hand. He could tell she was tired, he knew she hadn't been sleeping lately, and he wanted to know why. So why was it so hard to ask her what was wrong? Why did he seem to spontaneously combust from the mouth and tell her she was beautiful? Sure, it was true, but he kept thoughts like that to himself. Especially when it came to a kid her age. Come to think of it... he actually didn't know how old she was. "How old are you, kid?"

Shilo paused, and looked around, "Umm, I turned 18 a few months ago... not too long after the Opera. Why?" Her eye brow was raised up, and her head tilted just a bit. _Damn, she's cute._

"I just realized that I keep calling you 'Kid,' and if you're not actually a kid, I probably should find a new name for you."

"Could just call me Shilo. I mean, it is my name after all." He scoffed at this and shook his head.

"That takes away all the fun. I'll come up with something for you." Shi crossed her arms.

"What if I _want_ to be called by my name?" When Graves didn't respond, she thought she had him beaten. That was, until he somehow made it over to her in the blink of an eye, and was hovering over her.

"You want me to call you Shilo? You wanna hear me say your name?" He sneered, suddenly looking very much unlike the Graverobber she knew (or thought she did, anyway). "Because once I start using your name... I can't say you'll like the way it sounds."

"Graverobber..." She scooted back away from him until she hit the wall. She blinked, and looked around. Sunlight, what little of it made its way through the smog, was shining into her room. She was laying as she had been before, on her back with her hands on her stomach. There was no evidence that Graverobber had been in at all. _It was a dream,_ she sighed thankfully, sliding back down the mattress. After a moment, she got up and stretched, noting the rather pleasant popping and creaking in her joints, and turned to open her door. Just as she'd placed her hand on the knob, it opened.

**A/N;; BAUM BAUM BAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUM! Bit o' cliffhanger there for you. Maybe it'll keep you all awake tonight like it used to do to Shilo. :P**

**Reviewers this time around get to go on a date with the Pavi. :) And I promise, he won't steal your face. :)**

**Maybe. o.o**

linz


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